Ammunition holder



Jan. 28, 1969 J.W. WALLACE ET AL 3,424,298 V AMMUN IT ION HOLDER 7 3 m wM H MN: 8 6 9 l 0 2 h C r a M d e l 1 F INVENTORS John W. WALLACERandolph B. SNOW ATTORNEY Jan. 28, 1969 J. w. WALLACE ET AL 3,424,298

AMMUNITION HOLDER Sheet Filed March 20, 1968 INVENTORS John W. WALLACERandolph B. SNOW United States Patent 13,419/ 67 US. Cl. 206-3 Int. Cl.F42b 39/00 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cartridge holdercarton in the form of a sleeve with opposed narrow cartridge-receivingtop and bottom walls each provided with holes in staggered relationshipto the holes in the other wall, and connecting side walls. Each hole issurrounded by a lip which supports the cartridge and frictionallyengages it in a push fit. In the case of flanged cartridges the holesare on the top and bottom walls so that the flange rests on top of thewalls where it is accessible for gripping to remove the cartridge. Inthe case of rimless cartridges, the lip engages in the groove near thebase of the cartridge and the side walls adjacent to the top and bottomwalls have openings forming extensions of those on the top and bottomwalls to facilitate removal of the cartridge.

This invention relates to cartridge packages.

Various devices have been developed for holding cartridges. Containersmade of paperboard have been suggested with openings to receive thecartridges and hold them in spaced position. However, packages of thisnature have usually suffered from one disadvantage or another or havebeen unduly complex. It is an aim of the present invention to provide asimple and convenient container which can be easily made from foldablesheet material and is handy in use.

According to the invention, a carton is provided made from a singlesheet of foldable material, preferably paperboard. The carton hasparallel side walls spaced apart substantially the width of a cartridgeand intervened by narrow top and bottom walls. The top and bottom wallsare provided with openings just large enough to receive cartridges, eachopening being surrounded by a shoulder of the carton material whichserves to engage the cartridge and hold it in place. The openings in thetop wall are staggered in respect of the openings in the bottom walls sothat the cartridges are interdigitated.

One form of carton is intended for cartridges having a rim and theopenings are just large enough to take the cartridge in a push fit whilethe rim rests on the shoulders surrounding the opening. The cartridgecan be removed by grasping the shoulder and pulling it out.

In another form of container for rimless cartridges the openingscontinue from the top and bottom ends down the sides for a distance toprovide access to the side of the cartridge to facilitate removal. Inthis case the cartridge is retained by the shoulder surrounding theopening engaging in the annular groove in the cartridge.

The invention features a special blank for making the carton, the cartonitself in the form of a special sleeve, a complete package including thecarton and cartridges, and several of these packages in a commoncontainer.

The invention will be described in more detail by reference to theaccompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments, and inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cartridge package according to theinvention;

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FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross-section along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section along the line 33 ofFIGURE 1 at the top of the package;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section partly in elevationalong the line 44 of FIGURE 1 showing the way in which the cartridgenests in one of the openings and is engaged by the shoulder surroundingthe opening;

FIGURE 5 is a view of the blank to make the carton for the type ofcartridge package shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of another preferred form of cartridgepackage according to the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical cross-section partly in elevation along the line77 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary cross-section partly in elevation showing thenesting of a rimless cartridge and the engagement of the shouldersurrounding the cartridgerecieiving opening in the groove of the rimlesscartridge; an

FIGURE 9 is a view of the blank to make the carton for the type ofcartridge package shown in FIGURE 6.

Referring more particularly to FIGURES 1 to 5 of the drawings a packageof flanged or rimmed cartridges F is shown. The carton for thispreferred cartridge package is made of a single sheet of foldable sheetmaterial, preferably paperboard, the blank being shown in FIGURE 5. Theholder is in the form of a sleeve A having side walls 15 and 17interconnected at top and bottom, by walls 19 and 21.

The sleeve is formed from a blank B, shown in FIG URE 5, by foldingabout the creases 19a, 19b, 21a, 21b, and overlapping the terminal flaps31 and 33 so as to provide a side wall 17. The joint is preferablymidway of the side wall 17 as shown, although it could be placed closeto the end wall 21 in which case the overlapping extension of the wall21 would be more in the nature of a flange on the end wall than a majorpart of the side wall. The top and bottom walls 19 and 21 are providedwith spaced apart openings 23 and 25 respectively, preferably slightlyless in diameter than the barrel of the cartridge, surrounded bysupporting shoulders 23a and 25a.

The rim 1-6 of each cartridge F sits on the shoulder 23a or 25a as thecase may be, as shown in the drawing, with the sides 18 of the cartridgefrictionally gripped by the shoulders in a push fit.

The top openings 23 are staggered with respect to the bottom openings 25so that cartridges F inserted in the openings 23 will be interdigitatedwith cartridges F1 inserted in the openings 25.

Another form of holder, as illustrated in FIGURES 6 to 9, is adapted forrimless cartridges R. Similar parts of this holder have been givenreference numerals with the same digits and tens as those in FIGURES 1to 5, but raised by one hundred.

The frangible sleeve is shown as Al, the blank as B1. A joint 131 isprovided midway of the wall 117, but could be near the wall 121 asexplained earlier in connection with FIGURE 5. The joint is made byproviding the margin of one terminal flap 131 of the blank B1 with astrip 128 of adhesive resistant coating material, having spaced apartspots 130 without such coating, and providing the other terminal flap133, spaced from its edge with a line of adhesive 132. When the adhesive132 is activated and the strips 141, 143 juxtaposed, the strip 143adheres to the spots 142 so as to provide an interrupted anddisengageable connection between the terminal flaps. The margin of theflap 117a is provided with a pull tab 145. A crease is provided betweenthe flap 117a proper and the tab 145 to facilitate bending the latteraway from the wall of the carton, so that the joint 131 can be brokenand the package opened. The flap 117b is provided with a slot 147adapted to receive the tab 145 so that the package can be reassembledafter a cartridge is removed.

Spaced apart openings 123 and 125 extend across the top and bottom walls119 and 121 respectively, each opening also extending partly down thesides 117. The reason for having the openings extend down the sides isfor finger access to the annular groove 116 in the rimless cartridge Rto pull it out of the holder. With the rimmed cartridge one can graspthe rim 16 resting on top of the shoulder 23a or 25a, but this is not sopossible with the rimless type. With the rirnless cartridge, the groove116 around the rim is engaged by the shoulders 123a or 125a of theopenings 123 and 125 which are of a diameter slightly less than thediameter of the cartridge body 119 requiring the cartridge to be forcedinto place against the resilience of the material causing the shoulderaround the opening to snap into the groove, as shown in FIGURE 8. Theopenings 123 extend down the side 117 far enough to give ready access tothe groove 124 in the cartridge for its ready removal but not far enoughto destroy the natural spring of the sheet material in the side walls.

The material from which the blank is made is foldable sheet material.The preferred material is paperboard which has enough snap in it to giveholding power to frictionally engage the cartridges. Prior to fillingthe cartridges, the assembled and glued sleeve A, A1, will be relativelystiff and will tend to retain its flat form with the sides of the sleevejuxtaposed and must be forced into opened-out position against theresistance of the board. Depending on the board used, creases 19a, 19b,21a, 21b, 119a, 119b, 121a, 12112 between the respective panels of theblank may give adequate bending properties, but with the preferred boardof a comparatively stiff material it may be desirable to include skipcuts 47, or 147 along the ceases to render them suitably flexible.

Another aspect of the invention, not specifically shown in the drawingsis the combination of a plurality of cartridge packages in a commoncontainer. Alternatively, the individual packages may be wrapped, forexample, in paper a transparent plastic material.

In putting the package together the blank is made into a sleeve and theterminal ends glued together as described. The sleeve normally lies flatwith the sides 15 and 17, or 115 and 117 as the case may be, juxtaposedand retained in this position by the stiffness of the board. To load thecarton with the cartridges, the sleeve is squared up so that the top andbottom 19 and 21, or 119 and 121 as the case may be, perpendicular tothe sides 17, 15 or 117, 115 and the cartridges plowed into the openings23, 25 or 123, 125 either manually or by mechanical means. The packagethus resulting can then be assembled with other packages into a boxcontaining a number of packages as, for example, shown in FIGURE 9.

A main advantage of the construction shown is the simplicity of thepackage. There are no excess parts and the manufacture and setting up ofthe blank is simple.

Both the flanged cartridges and the rirnless cartridges havecharacteristics permitting them to be accommodated by a package of thesame general nature. Each type of cartridge has a base provided with anannular shoulder facing the tip of the cartridge adjoining an annularbody area of lesser diameter. In the case of the flanged cartridge, theannular shoulder is the under or forward side of the flange and theadjoining annular body area is the immediate area of the cylindricalbody. In the case of the rirnless cartridge, the annular shoulder is theforwardly facing part of the groove in the cartridge and the annularbody area of lesser diameter is the bottom of the groove. The openingsfor the flanged cartridges extend right across the cartridge-receivingwalls, whereas the openings for the rirnless cartridges are spaced fromthe one edge of the cartridge-receiving walls and at the other sideextend from the cartridge-receiving walls a short distance down theadjacent side walls.

We claim:

1. A package for cartridges of a type having a base provided with anannular shoulder facing the tip of the cartridge adjoining an annularbody area of lesser diameter, comprising, a sleeve of pliable sheetmaterial having a pair of opposed elongated rectangularcartridge-receiving walls of substantially the width of the cartridgebody and provided with a plurality of spaced apart cartridgereceivingopenings each surrounded by a lip, the openings being of a size for thelip to bear against a cartridge shoulder with the margin of the lipfrictionally gripping the annular body area of lesser diameter, andparallel walls slightly longer than the cartridge extending between andconnecting the cartridge-receiving wall, the openings in onecartridge-receiving wall being staggered with respect to the openings inthe other, cartridges in said package each having a body extendingthrough an opening in the sleeve with said cartridge shoulder carried bythe lip and said annular body area of lesser diameter frictionallygripped by the margin of the lip to resist removal.

2. A package of cartridges, as defined in claim 1, which is a package offlanged cartridges and the openings terminate at the sides of thecartridge-receiving walls.

3. A cartridge package, as defined in claim 1, which is a package ofrirnless cartridges each having a groove near the base providing theshoulder and adjacent annular body area, a parallel wall adjacent eachcartridge-receiving wall being provided with openings each forming anextension of an opening in the cartridge-receiving wall to provideaccess to a cartridge from the side.

4. A carton for cartridges of the type having a base provided with anannular shoulder facing the tip of the cartridge adjoining an annularbody area of lesser diameter, comprising a sleeve of pliable sheetmaterial made up of a pair of opposed elongated rectangularcartridgereceiving walls of substantially the width of the cartridgebody and provided with a plurality of spaced-apart cartridge-receivingopenings each providing a surrounding lip to engage a cartridge, theopenings being of a size to receive a cartridge resting on the lip withthe edge of the lip frictionally gripping said adjoining annular part ofthe cartridge, and parallel walls slightly longer than a cartridgeextending between and connecting the cartridge-receiving walls, theopenings in one cartridgereceiving wall being staggered with respect tothe openings in the other.

5. A carton, as defined in claim 4, adapted for flanged cartridges inwhich the openings terminate at the sides of the cartridge-receivingwalls.

6. A carton, as defined in claim 5, which is for rirnless cartridgeseach having a groove near the base providing the shoulder and adjacentannular body area, a parallel Wall adjacent each cartridge-receivingWall being provided with openings each forming an extension of anopening in the cartridge-receiving wall to provide access to thecartridge from the side.

7. A blank of foldable sheet material for forming a carton forcartridges of a type having a base provided with an annular shoulderfacing the tip of the cartridge adjoining an annular body area of lesserdiameter, said blank being cut and creased to provide the parts of thecarton and including a pair of spaced-apart narrow parallel panels ofsubstantially the width of the cartridge body each provided withspaced-apart openings staggered with the openings in the other panel andadapted to form cartridge-receiving walls, between said narrow panels anelongated panel of substantially the length of a cartridge, and at theopposite sides of the narrow panels from the elongated panel terminalpanels adapted to be connected together to form a second elongated wallto complete the carton, the cartridge-receiving openings beingsurrounded by a lip each being adapted to receive a cartridge with thelip bearing against the cartridge shoulder and the edges of the lipgripping the annular adjoining area.

8. A blank, as defined in claim 7, in which the open- 5 ings areentirely on the cartridge-receiving walls so that they are adapted toreceive flanged cartridges.

9. A blank, as defined in claim 8, in which said elongated panel and anarrow panel are provided with openings forming continuations ofopenings in the narrow panels whereby the resulting carton is adapted tocontain rimless cartridges.

10. A package, as defined in claim 3, in which one parallel wall isformed by overlapping inner and outer flaps extending from therespective cartridge-receiving walls and releasably secured togetheradhesively, said outer flap being provided at its terminal edge with atab and the inner flap being provided spaced from its terminal edge witha slot adapted to receive said tab.

11. A carton, as defined in claim 6, in which one parallel wall isformed by overlapping inner and outer flaps extending from therespective cartridge-receiving walls and releasably secured togetheradhesively, said outer flap being provided at its terminal edge with atab and the inner flap being provided spaced from its terminal edge witha slot adapted to receive said tab.

12. A blank, as claimed in claim 9, in which said terminal panels areadapted to be overlapped and temporarily connected together adhesively,one of said terminal panels being provided at its terminal edge with atab and the other of said terminal panels spaced from its terminal edgewith a slot adapted to receive said tab.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 260,153 6/ 1882 Bennett 206-3FOREIGN PATENTS 641,453 8/ 1950 Great Britain.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

